Bears’ Justin Fields is in a happy place

The Chicago Bears offense. These words could be presented to children to teach them the meaning of the word oxymoron.

Certainly the Bears are playing in an unpredictable climate. Near the end of September, summer break and anything that can happen, which makes for some treacherous playing conditions at Soldier Field, but that can’t be the only reason their offense hasn’t been able to shift into first gear for the majority of the last 100 years. Erik Kramer, Jay Cutler, Marc Trestman, Matt Nagy — no one has been able to topple this offense, while Brett Favre and Tom Brady attack the winter weather like Homer Simpson on the snow plow.

Justin Fields is the second quarterback the Bears have traded up in the last five years. No one but Ryan Pace liked the move to select Mitchell Trubisky, but Fields represented the biggest hope that The Bears have had a quarterback since Jim McMahon was named Offensive Rookie of the Year in the strike-shortened 1982 season. With a top quarterback playing in an offense built by a man who once called plays for Andy Reid, the ball eventually had to fly through the snow resulting in the lake.

Instead, the year turned into a disaster. Fields’ biggest problem is that he holds the ball too long and the Bears didn’t have the offensive line to make it work. Nagy did so little to make life easier for the rookie that it could almost be considered bad practice. Last year went so badly that in Fields’ best performance of the season, Monday night football against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bears lost in what was one of worst games I have attended any sport.

The Bears cleaned house in the postseason, got rid of Nagy and Pace. They hired former Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Matt Eberfluss as a coach, but so do they brought in Luke Getsy — Aaron Rodgers’ former QB coach — to run the offense.

“I think Luke is a big brain,” Fields said he said to Peter King of NBC Sports. He is a great attacking coach. He’s probably the best coach I’ve had in my life.”

That’s how Fields answered the question, “Does this offense suit you?” With all the drama surrounding Teven Jenkins and the Bears’ With a perceived lack of depth at wide receiver, there is real upside that should make Bears fans finally smile for the team this offseason.

Of course, Fields wouldn’t say anything negative about the new coaching staff a month before the season starts, but all he had to say is that Getsy is a great coach and a pleasure to work with. He did not do it have to spill over Getsy that way, which means this season is already off to a much better start than 2021. Last year Nagy was adamant about starting Andy Dalton to start the season after the former Cincinnati Bengals The Cowboys’ offense did little to nothing in 2020 after Dak Prescott was injured and failed to make the playoffs in a division won by then-Washington football with a 7-9 record.

Fields sounds like someone who started a new job and can finally take a deep breath after leaving a tough work environment. His play during training camp gradually improved, and his best practice came Saturday, when he was without four of his top six receivers and three starting offensive linemen. In a drill called “Move,” the offense had the ball on its own 30-yard line and had to get into the end zone with 55 seconds on the clock and no timeouts. With multiple backups on the field, Fields was still able to hit the target.

The regular season is close, but still so far away with the Bears’ regular season opener on Sunday, September 11th. It will take half a season to judge his progress, and the Bears still have some issues on their hands with Jenkins and also All-Pro Roquan Smith. Not much is expected of the Bears in 2022, but Fields feeling as comfortable as his new offensive coordinator might be the best takeaway the franchise and its fans can have from training camp.

Maybe, just maybe, there will be an offense at Soldier Field that can finally run smoothly on the rainside, sleet and snow.